There are a small number of

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

s in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, reflecting

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's long

history of rail transport The history of rail transport began in the BCE times. It can be divided into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of track material and motive power used. Ancient systems The Post Track, a prehistoric causeway in the v ...

. Some former operations have closed, and aspirant operations may have museums and even rolling stock, but no operating track.

Heritage railways

Some of the main preserved or restored railways include: *

Stradbally Woodland Railway The Stradbally Woodland Railway is a 1 km (0.62 mile) long single-track narrow gauge railway line at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois in Ireland. Location The Stradbally Woodland Railway is located in the fenced-off groun ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

* Cavan and Leitrim Railway,

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

Fintown Railway Fintown (officially known by its Irish name, ) is a small village and townland on the banks of Lough Finn in County Donegal, Ireland. It is within the Gaeltacht, an Irish-speaking area, in the west of the county. Overlooked by Aghla (589m, 1961& ...

, based in

Fintown Fintown (officially known by its Irish name, ) is a small village and townland on the banks of Lough Finn in County Donegal, Ireland. It is within the Gaeltacht, an Irish-speaking area, in the west of the county. Overlooked by Aghla (589m, 1961 ...

, which runs along the length of

Lough Finn Lough Finn () is a freshwater lough (lake) in County Donegal, Ireland. The lough, along with its neighbouring village of Fintown, was named after a mythological woman, Finngeal, who drowned in the lake after attempting to save her wounded brothe ...

Glenties Glenties () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is situated where two glens meet, north-west of the Bluestack Mountains, near the confluence of two rivers. Glenties is the largest centre of population in the parish of Iniskeel. Glenties has ...

Line for about a mile *

Listowel and Ballybunion Railway The Lartigue Monorail system was developed by the French engineer Charles Lartigue (1834–1907). He further developed a horse drawn monorail system, which had been invented by Henry Robinson Palmer in 1821. Lartigue had seen camels in Algeri ...

, a section of the

Lartigue Monorail The Lartigue Monorail system was developed by the French engineer Charles Lartigue (1834–1907). He further developed a horse drawn monorail system, which had been invented by Henry Robinson Palmer in 1821. Lartigue had seen camels in Algeri ...

system, has been restored for visitors in

Listowel Listowel ( ; , IPA: �lʲɪsˠˈt̪ˠuəhəlʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the Central Statistics Of ...

Waterford and Suir Valley Railway The Waterford & Suir Valley Railway (WSVR) is a registered charity operating a gauge railway along approximately 10 km of track from Kilmeadan back towards Waterford, Ireland. The line shares much of its route along the banks of River Suir ...

, running a

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

for from Kilmeaden Station along the former mainline route from

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

to Mallow. It operates alongside the

Waterford Greenway The Waterford Greenway, also known locally as the Déise Greenway, is a route on a former railway track in County Waterford, Ireland, used for cycling and hiking. It opened in March 2017, on what was originally the Mallow/Waterford railway lin ...

and is Ireland's longest heritage line. *

West Clare Railway The West Clare Railway (WCR) originally operated in County Clare, Ireland, between 1887 and 1961. This narrow-gauge railway ran from the county town of Ennis, via numerous stopping-points along the West Clare coast to two termini, at Kilrush ...

, beginning in

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

while former operations included: * Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, run by

Bord na Móna Bord na Móna (; English: "The Peat Board"), is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company began developing the peatlands of Ireland with the aim to provide economic benefit for Irish Midland c ...

, near

Shannonbridge Shannonbridge () is a village located on the River Shannon, at the junction of the R444 and R357 regional roads in County Offaly, Ireland. It lies within the townland of Raghra (), at the borders of counties Offaly, Galway and Roscommon, with ...

, closed 2008 *

Tralee and Dingle Light Railway __NOTOC__ The Tralee and Dingle Light Railway and Tramway was a , narrow gauge railway running between Tralee and Dingle, with a branch from Castlegregory Junction to Castlegregory, in County Kerry on the west coast of Ireland. It operated bet ...

, between

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...

and

Dingle Dingle (Irish language, Irish: ''An Daingean'' or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coas ...

, not in operation since 2013 and aspirant operations, with plans for operating track, include: *

Connemara Railway The Connemara Railway is a heritage railway at Maam Cross railway station, County Galway in Ireland. It currently exists as an operable narrow gauge ''pop-up'' railway, with standard Irish Gauge track available for static exhibits. Backgroun ...

, based at

Maam Cross Maam Cross () is a crossroads in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. It lies within the townland of Shindilla, at the junction of the N59 from Galway to Clifden and the R336 from Galway to the Maam Valley Gleann an Mháma (English languag ...

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, operating a temporary

* County Donegal Railways Joint Committee, commemorated by the

Donegal Railway Centre The Donegal Railway Heritage Centre commemorates the operations of the County Donegal Railways Committee which operated two narrow-gauge railways in County Donegal from 1863 until 1959. The County Donegal Railway Restoration Society restored t ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, which once had two

systems *

Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway The Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway (SL&NCR) was a railway in counties Cavan, Fermanagh, Leitrim and Sligo in north-west Ireland. It consisted of one main line, with no branch lines and remained privately owned until its closu ...

, the last surviving independently operated railway in the Republic of Ireland (1879-1959)

Preservation groups

Preservation groups in the Republic of Ireland include: *

Irish Traction Group The Irish Traction Group is a railway preservation society dedicated to preserving diesel locomotives from Irish Railways. It was formed in 1989, with the intention of attempting to preserve at least one example of every type of diesel locomoti ...

, based in

Carrick-on-Suir Carrick-on-Suir () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It lies on both banks of the River Suir. The part on the north bank of the Suir lies in the civil parish of "Carrick", in the historical barony of Iffa and Offa East. The part on the so ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

, has a diesel locomotive collection at the site by the

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

–

railway route. ITG also run regular railtours around the country, sometimes with older (but still in regular use),

Iarnród Éireann Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and fr ...

locomotives and rolling stock. *

Irish Steam Preservation Society The Irish Steam Preservation Society is a voluntary organisation based in Stradbally, Co Laois whose aim is to preserve and maintain machinery connected to Ireland's industrial and social heritage. The society is responsible for the Irish National ...

, based in

Stradbally Stradbally () is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located in the midlands of Ireland along the N80 road, a National Secondary Route, about from Portlaoise. It is a townland, a civil parish and historic barony. It is known for its "Steam Ra ...

. Operates the

with vintage steam and diesel locomotives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heritage railways in the Republic of Ireland Ireland, Republic of * Republic of Ireland transport-related lists Irish railway-related lists Lists of buildings and structures in the Republic of Ireland Cultural heritage of Ireland

Heritage railways

Preservation groups

See also

References